Holding Her Hero

by Amy Lamont

  Mandy allowed him to hold her hand, but sat there stiffly, unable to give in and turn her hand to grasp his. “And now that you’ve gotten over the surprise?”

  “I want to keep seeing you. I had a great time last night and I’d love to do it again.”

  Mandy sat silently, unsure of how to respond to that. Every part of her wanted to fling herself at him and say yes to his proposition that they continue dating. And after all, they’d only been on one date. Granted, it was a fabulous date. But the fact he was so wary of the idea of having her around for more than a couple weeks left her stomach rolling.

  After last night, she could imagine her feelings for him growing deeper. She still had to figure out how to deal with the whole Marine thing, but last night felt like a beginning. What would she do if he dropped her after a few dates?

  Then again, she knew better than anyone that life didn’t come with guarantees. And while she was willing to take a risk and go out with him last night, that didn’t mean she was willing to risk more than a casual relationship on a military man.

  She might be the one breaking things off with him in a few weeks.

  She bit her lip. “So what are you proposing?”

  He smiled and the dimple that appeared caused her heart to do somersaults in her chest. “We date.”

  “Isn’t that what we’ve been doing?”

  “Exactly.” His smile faltered a bit and his eyes got serious. “I know it’s probably crazy to make this big a deal about things after only one date, and believe me, if you were anyone else....”

  “Anyone else?” She narrowed her eyes at him. What did who she was have to do with anything? “Who am I?”

  “You’re Miss Abigail’s granddaughter.”

  “Okay.” Her confusion made her draw the word out. “I don’t understand why that’s a problem.”

  Mitch fiddled with his fork, a move that surprised her. She’d noticed soon after meeting him that he wasn’t given to fidgeting. He was like a rock—steady, still and determined. Seeing him playing with his utensils and then rolling the napkin around his finger caused her stomach to plummet again.

  “Mitch?”

  “I don’t have much family,” he said quietly. “I mean, really, aside from the guys in my unit, I don’t have any family aside from....” He trailed off and looked up at her, and there was something strangely vulnerable about his eyes.

  Suddenly, a light dawned. “Aside from Grandma. Grandma’s family to you.”

  He nodded. “And if things don’t go well between the two of us…”

  She picked up his sentence for him. “You’re afraid of losing Grandma, too.”

  He looked down at where his fingers were shredding his placemat, and it was like he caught himself. Everything about him became still. He sat up straight and let the pieces of paper fall back onto the table. His blank face slammed firmly down into place.

  But if she looked hard enough, she could see it. Just the faintest hint of vulnerability. She didn’t totally understand what he’d said about not having any family. But now just didn’t seem like the best time to question him about it.

  “Mitch, my grandmother is devoted to you. I know she considers you like another one of her grandsons.” She took a deep breath and decided to be completely honest with him. “I really like you. I had the best time I’ve had in…well, in a really long time last night.”

  “Me, too,” he assured her and the blank mask slipped just a little.

  “But, I don’t want to be the reason you worry about losing my grandmother.” She bit hard on her lower lip. She knew how important her own family was to her, even scattered around the globe the way they were. She couldn’t imagine how it felt to have so few people you could truly lean on. “If you want to just be friends,” Mandy said, then swallowed convulsively as the words left her lips, “I’ll understand.”

  Mitch chuckled, a rich, warm sound that sent warmth shooting through her belly. “Mandy, I think we’ve been over this just friends crap already. That doesn’t really seem to work for us.”

  A small glimmer of hope flared inside her and she offered him a small smile. “No, it doesn’t, does it?”

  He shook his head. “And besides, I already told you, I’m an ass. I shouldn’t have acted the way I did last night. I wouldn’t have come out to see you today if I hadn’t already figured out that I want to see you again.”

  She laughed outright and the warmth bloomed until she felt like it was radiating from every pore. Despite the happiness blooming in her chest at his admission, she kept her voice light. “So, we date?”

  He nodded. “We date.”

  * * *

  Standing under the hot California sun, Mitch used the back of one gloved hand to wipe sweat from his brow. It might only be spring, but the temperatures were swelling into the low 90s, and he was beginning to feel the effects.

  “Could you use some lemonade?”

  He glanced over his shoulder and gave Mandy an appreciative smile. She looked like something out of one of his fantasies, standing there in a pair of tiny black shorts, a pink tank top and her dark hair tousled around her face.

  As he moved to take the glass from her hand, he leaned down and stole a kiss. As much as he wanted to do more, he didn’t allow himself to move any closer. She looked so pretty and fresh and after a morning of working on the roof in the sweltering heat, he was more than a little ready for a shower.

  So he settled for a quick peck on the lips before taking the glass from her and chugging almost half of it down in one swallow.

  “Thanks,” he said, lifting the glass back to his lips.

  When she didn’t respond, he moved his eyes from the glass to her face and grinned.

  Her eyes had a glassy look to them. Her glossy pink lips were parted and she stood there staring at him. Guess she didn’t mind the grime too much.

  He grinned and took a step closer to her. “What’s going through that mind, I wonder?”

  “What?” Mandy shook her head a little as if coming out of daze, and his grin deepened. “Sorry, got lost in thought a second there.”

  “Looks like it,” he teased and arched an eyebrow at her so she would realize he knew exactly where her thoughts had gone—the same place his thoughts went most of the time these days.

  He and Mandy had spent as much time together as their schedules allowed the last few weeks. They’d gone on dates, worked together on Miss Abigail’s house and she’d even brought him over to the shop she’d rented to run her plans by him.

  There had been lots of touching and kissing and time to think about what they’d like to do to each other. The only problem was actually finding a time and place to act on those thoughts. Things had to change.

  He watched as she lifted her hair off her neck in an attempt to cool off a little, the material of her top stretching tighter over her breasts.

  Things had to change soon.

  “I have work tonight, but what are you doing tomorrow night?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “No plans.”

  “How about I pick you up and take you to dinner?”

  She smiled and nodded, sliding her hands in the back pockets of her shorts. He barely managed to hold in a groan as her position caused her back to arch slightly and once again thrust her breasts out temptingly.

  “At my place?” he asked.

  Mandy’s smiled faded and her teeth began to worry at her lower lip. Maybe he’d read her wrong? Was it possible she wasn’t on the same page as him about taking this to the next level?

  “No pressure,” he jumped in to reassure her. “If you’re not ready—”

  She shook her head. “No, it’s not that.”

  He waited a beat, but she offered no further explanation. It was obvious she was nervous about something. Could it be something to do with her fiancé? She’d admitted she hadn’t kissed anyone else since he died. Would it feel like cheating to her?

  His chest got tight at the thought her feelings for Will
might still be so strong they would keep her from moving forward with him. But hell, he’d already committed himself to seeing where things went between the two of them. He wasn’t going down without a fight now.

  “Look,” he said, “my apartment is about halfway between here and the base. Not far at all. So I can pick you up, we’ll have dinner, and if you decide afterward you want to come back here, I’ll be happy to take you.” Happy might be stretching things a bit considering the almost constant state of arousal he was in when he was within a mile of her, but if she needed to take things slowly, he’d do his best to respect it.

  “You don’t live on base?” A small smile turned up the corners of her lips.

  “No. I haven’t lived on base for a few years.” He grinned. “A couple of years of sharing space with a bunch of Marines was more than enough to last me a lifetime.”

  “I can’t believe I didn’t know that.” She laughed, the anxious look of a few minutes ago completely gone. “I guess I just assumed when you mentioned your place….”

  He shrugged. “It’s not much. Nothing like this.” He gestured to Miss Abigail’s cottage. “But it’s clean and has everything we need to cook dinner. And I’d really like to have some time alone with you.”

  Damn. When did he start rambling? Some alone time with the woman in front of him was probably exactly what he needed. Too much more time in this state and he wouldn’t be responsible for his actions.

  “I’d like that.” Mandy’s warm smile eased the tension in his shoulders.

  “Yeah?”

  She leaned up on tiptoes and kissed him, soft and sweet. “Yeah.”

  * * *

  “So judging by the smile on your face, I’d say things are going well between you and Mitch?”

  Mandy looked up from the restaurant supply catalog she’d been leafing through. Not like she was really seeing any of it anyway. She smiled to see Hal standing in the open door of the soon-to-be pastry shop.

  “Hey! I didn’t expect to see you today.” Mandy gestured Hal inside. Hal had one of her part-timers running the shop today since she was scheduled for a follow-up test to find out whether or not the baby had Down syndrome. She was supposed to go a few weeks ago but came down with a stomach bug, and she’d been trying hard to postpone it ever since.

  “Our appointment isn’t until this afternoon. Joe had to go into work this morning, and I thought I’d go crazy sitting around the house just waiting.”

  Mandy walked around the counter and gave her friend a hug. “Well, I’m happy to see you. You can help me decide on some colors and furniture for this place.”

  “Sounds like fun.” Hal gave her an obviously strained smile. “Anything to keep from having to think of this afternoon.”

  Mandy led Hal to a small table and chairs in the corner, a leftover from the last tenant. She had more catalogs, fabric swatches and pads and pens there.

  “I’m your girl. I’m trying to figure out exactly what I want to do up front. All I know is I want it to be cozy. Beyond that, no idea.” Mandy flipped through a book of wallpaper samples. “As fast as things are coming together, I may be open by the end of the next month. If I can just get my mind made up on furniture and paint colors.” She grimaced at her friend.

  Hal laughed. “What about your job and stuff back in New York?”

  “My lease runs out in about eight weeks. At some point I’m going to have to make a trip to go pack things up. And I already let my bosses know I’m not coming back.”

  Hal squealed. “I’m so excited you’re going to be here permanently.”

  Mandy giggled, marveling over how easily her friendship with Hal had grown. “Me, too. I feel like I’m waking up from a dream. Until Grandma said something about my plans for the future I didn’t realize how far I’d gotten off track.”

  As the two tore pictures out of magazines and debated over paint chips, Hal raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at Mandy. “You know, you never answered my first question.”

  Mandy wrinkled her brow.

  “About Mitch,” Hal prompted. “How are things going?”

  Mandy couldn’t help the silly grin that spread across her face. “Things are going…well.”

  “Oh, no. You’re not getting off that easy. I want details.”

  “Really well?” Mandy teased.

  “Mandy!”

  Mandy laughed at her friend’s pouting. “He did ask me to have dinner tomorrow.”

  Hal rolled her eyes. “That’s not helpful. You guys have dinner together every day he’s not working. I want to hear about the good stuff.”

  Mandy could feel the heat spreading across her cheeks. “Did I mention the dinner he invited me to is taking place at his apartment?”

  Hal clapped her hands. “It’s about time.”

  “It’s only been a few weeks.” She bit her lip as she thought about Mitch’s invitation. And her own reaction when she thought he lived on base. “And I almost said no.”

  “You know if you’re not ready to move things in that direction yet, you don’t have to,” Hal said softly.

  “It’s not that. I didn’t realize he lived in an apartment off base.” She traced her finger over a slick magazine page. “To be honest, when I thought of showing up and being surrounded by that stuff again, I sort of freaked out.”

  “Did Mitch realize you were freaked out?”

  Mandy shook her head. “It was a quiet freak out.”

  “How do you quietly freak out?”

  “He jumped in to reassure me quickly. I think he thought the same thing you did—that I’m not ready to take that step.”

  “Are you?” Hal asked.

  “Oh my God, if I were any more ready I might spontaneously combust.”

  Hal grinned and the two women broke into giggles.

  “So I guess the freak out wasn’t too bad?” Hal asked once the laughter died down.

  “It was bad enough. I thought I put all that stuff behind me. I decided he was worth the risk. You know, with his job and everything.”

  Hal nodded, all trace of laughter gone. Her sympathetic smile let Mandy know Hal understood exactly what she meant.

  “I guess I’m still not over it.” Mandy’s voice was almost a whisper. “And it made me realize how much I avoid anything to do with all that.”

  “All that?” Hal asked.

  “All the military stuff,” Mandy clarified. She closed her eyes and turned her face toward the warm sun streaming through the front window. “It made me realize I don’t really talk to him about his job. Every time he brings up his work, I change the subject or tune it out a little. I’m not over it. I’m ignoring it.”

  “Does that mean you want to break things off with Mitch?” Hal leaned over and squeezed Mandy’s hand.

  “No. I really don’t.” Mandy smiled. “I love spending time with him. Even doing things like fixing the saggy porch or passing him tools when he’s working on the plumbing under the sink is fun.”

  “You do have it bad.” Hal wrinkled her nose.

  Mandy giggled. “I do. I mean, I haven’t known him long, but I really care about him. And the chemistry....” Mandy used a hand to fan herself.

  “You always stop just when you’re getting to the good stuff.”

  The two women laughed again.

  “Do you think you’ll get over the whole military thing?”

  “I hope so, Hal.” She smiled a little sadly at her friend. “I really hope so.”

  9

  Sitting in Mitch’s car, Mandy twisted her fingers together in her lap. Her mind churned as she dredged up everything that happened over the last few weeks. She turned her head to study his profile. Something fluttered in her chest. How had she ever thought she could resist him?

  Now they were about to take things to the next level, and as much as she wanted to take the next step—God, did she want to take the next step—her stomach couldn’t help but tie itself in knots as she wondered if she’d lost her mind completely. She’d allowe
d Captain Mitch Taylor, United States Marine, to wiggle his way into her heart before they’d even done more than share some steamy kisses.

  But if the kisses they’d shared were any indication, making love with Mitch would be off the charts. And even though it had only been weeks, the lead up to this night felt like it was months, maybe years, in the making. Maybe that was why, despite the doubts about her ability to handle his job, part of her was turning mental cartwheels. She was finally—finally—going to be able to kiss him and touch him without worrying about getting too carried away.

  As they turned into the parking lot of an apartment complex, Mandy’s eyes ate up the view. Her heart jumped to her throat when she realized she was about to get a more intimate look at Mitch’s life. It seemed odd to her suddenly that she hadn’t been here before, hadn’t spent time grilling him about the guys he worked with, asked him about places he’d been.

  She shook off her thoughts as her gaze wandered over the nondescript brick buildings in front of her. Mitch pulled the car around a corner into a parking lot behind his building. From here she saw faded brick, rickety fire escapes climbing up the three-story building, the dumpster set to one corner of the lot, and an older man walking a small poofy dog on a patch of gnarly grass.

  “Impressed?”

  Her gaze flew to a grinning Mitch.

  Mandy swung her head around, searching for something kind to say about the place Mitch called home. Finding nothing, she decided to sidestep the issue. “I can’t exactly make a judgment without seeing the whole place first, can I?”

  Mitch chuckled at her evasion, but swung out of the car, coming around to open her door for her. “Sorry to say, the rest of the place isn’t too much of an improvement on the parking lot.”

  He smiled down at her and took her hand to lead her inside. With that one simple look, simple touch, all thoughts about the condition of his apartment flew from her mind and warmth unfurled inside her. It began in her chest and spread out to the rest of her body. She didn’t care if his apartment consisted of a cardboard box with a hot plate. She’d follow him anywhere if he continued to touch her and look at her like that.